How often have you felt so overwhelmed by work, school, or relationships that you feel the urge to get away for a while?

When things get too crazy for us and we start to feel like we’re losing touch with our creativity or energy, we follow our instincts to get away, to clear the clutter, or to distance ourselves from whatever is filling up our thoughts and time.

What if you didn’t though? What if, instead of distancing yourself from everything that is cluttering up your thoughts, you stayed put?

As it turns out: the middle of chaos is often one of the best places to stumble upon creative insight.

Think of it like a tropical storm, throwing everything around in the air and beating you down slowly. Right smack dab in the middle of the storm is what they call the eye. It’s in the eye of the storm where creativity is often the most powerful.

Really! What better place to look for creative inspiration or insight than right in the middle of everything? Sure, getting to the eye of the storm is a bit of a pain, but when you’re right there in the middle you have so much opportunity to evaluate everything going on around you.

The next time you feel overwhelmed, rather than running away try to force yourself into the mess deeper. It’s in the middle of the storm where you will find the calm, cool, and collected place to readjust your thinking and jump back into the storm.